The Crazy Badminton game

The goal of the game is to do something silly and laugh your head off.  At one point, I thought Naomi was hyperventilating because she was laughing so hard. 

Mommy's Christmas present

Naomi:  "Mommy, I have secret that I can't tell you."
Mommy: "What is it, Naomi?"
Naomi:  "Mommy I can't tell you because it is a secret.  Daddy, Nathan and I are going to get you alot of presents!"
Mommy:  "OK, and...."
Naomi:  "We are going to get you so many phones that you are going to be so happy, but I can't tell you because it is a secret."

I asked daddy if he has been talking about getting me Christmas present with the kids but he said he hasn't been.  Em.... How does Naomi know that mommy wants a Note 2?


LOL

Nathan's new challenge

Since Nathan's parent-teacher interview last week, I really tried to work with Nathan to find out the root of his problem. I now draw the conclusion that he gets frustrated when he is asked to write any opinion piece (i.e. journal, or like what is your favourite __________ and why type of questions) because he lacks the critical thinking skills to come up with what to write.

So here are some of the strategies that we have adapted:

1. Ask him to retell a story that he has read to help him to learn how to summarize.
2. Everyday, him and I will write each other a "secret note" stating the favourite thing that happened that day
3. Keeping a science journal. Since he likes science much, we decided to let me keep "facts" so that he can paraphrase and synthesize from all the information.

We are going to try to keep all learning fun and interesting!

And since we are doing all these with Nathan, of course Naomi has to have her own journal book as well. So as Nathan is writing the science facts on starfishes today, Naomi says "mommy I am going to write a poem." A poem? Does she know what a poem is? I guess she does, as she then took out the book "One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish" and copies out a few lines. Good job, cutie pie Naomi.

Toy of the year

A $3 toy from Dollarama, a static electricity ward with lots of different aluminum 3D shapes. Naomi plays with it like catching bubbles!



Btw did you see 爸爸中要害？

Christmas tree 2012

Yeah! We decorated our christmas tree!!

Mommy said: let's get some Christmas music!

Naomi: I have a great idea! I will play the guitar and you will sing Christmas songs!

Mommy: yep! That is such a great idea!



One sad news. We broke the tree ornament that Naomi made for me from school last year:(



Every year, as a family tradition, we always buy a new ornament. And this year ...... Dada...... THING 1 and THING 2 from Orlando!

My favorite uncle 6

六叔公 and 六叔婆are just too much fun. We went over to their place for dinner, and NN just had such a blast! Gangnam style, silly rugby game, and wonderful food! You should see the amount of snack that we left with. Thanks a lot for a wonderful night!



Sorry auntie 6 por. Regardless of how much time you put in roasting the meat, or the large garlic shrimp, or yummy portabella mushroom, the Favourite dish is still the garlic bread.

公公生曰快樂！

Today after school we picked up these nice little pastry from a Italian bakery for grandpa'a birthday. Nathan also get to finish the movie that he started yesterday! Everybody is happy!

Naomi-some pics

You know what?

Naomi: Mom! U wouldn't believe what I am doing!
Mom: what are you doing?
Naomi: I am using only one hand, unbuttoning one button. Without looking.
Mom: wow! That is truly amazing

天下太平

戰士十分激烈！Nathan spent so much time drawing some great attacks! It's funny how much story he was telling like the war was really going on between the Pokemon and the "all over the place everybody can take part" army of daddy and mommy. (Yes, daddy and mommy had to 車輛戰 because we wanted to eat!). This game kept Nathan busy for at least one hour! I guess this is a much better option than iPad or iPod or iPhone or android....

Happy birthday yea yea!

Thank you Betty Por and Yee gu plus family to come and celebrate yea yea's birthday. We had such a wonderful time.

See Naomi's drawing? Notice the 象形中文字？ I guess this is our next project to work with Naomi, is to learn how to write Chinese words properly.

Student led conference

We had our student led conference with Nathan. He took us for a tour around the classroom and showed us all the great works that he had accomplished. I really enjoyed it when Nathan was showing us his works.

We then get to talk to his teacher about his progress. This time maybe because Nathan was there (we ran into each other out for bubble tea one day and we talked a little) she didn't say that "he is so so cute" line anymore. It could also be that being cute is no longer enough to compensate for Nathan's activeness and inability to maintain focus. Her first comment was "Nathan is a typical boy!". As much as I tried to be a mom who bite her tongue and not to defend my child, I still did not think that it is the best idea to rip a piece of him for 10 minutes right in front of the child. I know that I am probably the most bias person since this is my kid and also because I am so used to being on the other side of the table that I already have a certain expectation of what to say to help the kid. After the 10 minutes of complains, I finally asked the teacher, what are some strategies that I can do to help him. That's when we finally get to the purpose of these parent teacher interviews - to help the kid.

I also had a problem when she complains about how Nathan takes long during writing exercises, that he was too stubborn in spelling very words correctly. I hardly think that taking his time doing his work correctly is a bad thing. He just wants to do
well.

I hope Nathan is not going to develop a negative concept of school. Luckily, during dinner afterward when grandma asked Nathan how the interview went, Nathan said "good"! After this interview, I appreciate Nathan's old JK SK teacher, mr. Levine even more. Mr. Levine was able to appreciate each kid as who they are. He understands boys are boys and he is able to engage their energies and turn it into a positive thing. This is another reason that makes him more deserving of the teacher of the year award!!

Nathan, I want you to know that mommy knows that you are a wonderful kid. I also understand you need to work on staying focus on tasks on hand, and I wish that you can keep working hard on this. Mommy is super proud of you!

The letter E

As part of her homework, Naomi has to write out the letter of the week forna few times, and draw a picture which begins with that letter. This is such as awesome elephant that I think we should record this. Other homework includes reading a snuggle book. Naomi is doing really well. She is already reading at a level 6. Good job Naomi! Keep up the good work!

Our Neighbour

 NN play so so well with our neighbour, Stephanie and Anson. Stephanie and Anson are one of those kids that you can't help laughing just by looking at them.  They are so cute and, how to say it, true kids.  Knowing how crazy NN are, as you can guess, how much giggling and laughing when the play together. 

 

Princesses!  You should hear the way they talk.  I guess girls this age, just talk like this.  The name that pops in my head everytime they talk to each other, Strawberry Shortcake.  

 We really need to get together more!